Someone stole some of my chicks!! (update page 2)

[Soccer Mom]

I had someone stealing ducklings from what seemed to be a sealed coop early this summer. It turned out to be a rat snake. They can wriggle in thru openings you wouldn't believe. It was taking ducklings two and three at a time. Any chance it could be a snake?

 

[MissJenny]

I have a motion light that comes on the instant my back gate is touched -- let there be light. I would love the sign, "Smile, You're On Hidden Camera".

Having a motion sensor up on your porch won't help unless the prowler comes to the door -- and it looks like your prowler wants something way in the backyard.

My motion sensor and light were under $30 -- peace of mind: Priceless.

Jenny

 

[M To The Maxx]

Can you try setting a camera somewhere in your house visible to the coops and leave it on all day and all night and then check it?

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Yes it will. The ONLY way into the back yard is through the gate on the back porch next to the back door.
That's what I meant earlier in this thread when I said that my back yard isn't really easy to get into because there are no gates.


Well, snakes are always a possibility because they can get in such a small opening and not leave a trace. There are about a million cats in the neighborhood, including two of my own, plus dogs, cars, chickens, and many other snake-killers. I don't think the snake population is rampant, but there could be one. I haven't lost any eggs though, until just today there was one cracked but none missing --- and sometimes I don't collect them every day.

Last night I caught the neighbor's tiger stiped kitty in the live trap. Set him out around 3am since he wasn't a suspect Didn't catch anything else. If it was any of the normal predators they probably would have been back for a chick-nugget, but I doubt I could catch a snake in a Have a Heart trap

I didn't think we had a rat problem because they aren't stealing food. Plus the again mentioned cat population tends to keep rodents away.

This is what I posted in the Arkansas thread, in case you guys were wondering why I suspected one neighbor:

My sister in law who lives on the next street said she thought she noticed someone in my yard when she drove by around 3.30 in the afternoon, but until I mentioned the missing chicks it didn't "click" that it wasn't me in the yard (I was at work till 6.30ish). DH was home but sleeping and says the dog didn't wake him up.

Honestly my biggest suspects are the people who live next door on the south. I take them eggs pretty frequently and we're friendly, but they are terrible animal owners. They tend to get pets for a little while, until they get tired of the puppy messes, and then get rid of them.

I can't understand how anyone who didn't live directly around me would even know about the chicks. They are inside the tractor - inside the fence - inside the back yard, they don't crow yet, and they just aren't that noticible.​

 

[usschicago1]

Ohhh That was you who i took the chicks from? Sorry there mine now .
Just Kidding!

But me being a teenager, that sound like teenagers in your yard. A kid at my highschool got into trouble for going to his neighbors yard, taking all the puppies born and beating them to death with a baseball bat ( while they were bye the tied up mom). So, a teenager would definitly leave clues like unplugging it and taking chicks just for the fun of it. I cant imagine ever doing it. I had to kill my neighbors chicken the other day for him because it was so sick and dying and I was all watery-eyed and emotional. So im just an oddball

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Have you looked for tracks in the dirt? That's where I look when I suspect suspicious activity around my coops. You can also rake the ground smooth before you leave for the night, even sprinkle flour all around the gate & pen, to help you see the tracks better in the morning.

And you say you had 4-week-old chicks missing before you trapped the neighbor's cat? Don't you think the cat could be the culprit? I don't know how you had your extension cord set up, but the cat could have also caused the light to become unplugged if he stepped on it or got a leg tangled in it.

I hope you solve your dilemma soon.

 

[Tala]

The large coop is stationary and easy to secure with a padlock.

The problem with a chicken tractor (where the chicks are) is that it's PORTABLE. Even if I were to put an actual lock on the gate, what's to stop a human from picking up the whole thing? I'm barely 5ft and I built it so I can move it all around myself. It kept my other 6 chicks safe from 3 to 20 weeks - - - it's pretty secure from your normal predators, but humans are a whole nother ballgame.

I could put the chicks in with the adults at night (in a dog crate) to lock them all up, but then what would I do with them in the daytime while the adults range?

Have you looked for tracks in the dirt? That's where I look when I suspect suspicious activity around my coops. You can also rake the ground smooth before you leave for the night, even sprinkle flour all around the gate & pen, to help you see the tracks better in the morning.

And you say you had 4-week-old chicks missing before you trapped the neighbor's cat? Don't you think the cat could be the culprit? I don't know how you had your extension cord set up, but the cat could have also caused the light to become unplugged if he stepped on it or got a leg tangled in it.

I hope you solve your dilemma soon.

Our yard is pretty grassy, no tracks.

The neighborhood is full of cats, and they never got any of my chicks before even when Houdini used to escape pretty often (she's now a laying pullet, about 30 weeks old) - much less 3 in one day!
Cats generally play with their food, you know, evidence. I know if it was one of my cats, the body would have ended up on my back porch/steps

The extension cord is laying flat on the ground. It fits pretty snugly, I don't think a human stepping on it would unplug it, much less a little cat. I've run extension cords all over the yard, since I move the tractor a lot having permanent electricity wouldn't work very well and I've never had it randomly come unplugged before.

I did ask the neighbors if they had seen anything. The mom said no, the daughter said something but I'm not sure what. COULD be the kids that's my best guess.

Caught another cat in the trap while I was gone to work. I'm on the fence about what to do with it because I really wish our neighborhood had a TNR type program.​

 

[Sillystunt]

Maybe snake? That seems like a good one mentioned~

 

[Tala]

Quote:
How's the best way to tell if you don't ever see a snake??? Can they be trapped?

 

[momofdrew]

Quote:
How's the best way to tell if you don't ever see a snake??? Can they be trapped?

snakes dont unplug cords